Still not sick of the Nissan GT-R, part 243: The gunmetal grey Hot Wheels R35.

Brand after brand after brand continues to embrace the GT-R. Maybe one day I will be sick of them. I’m not yet. So here is another of MANY GT-R features on Lamley. And there will be a lot more.

I have already sung the praises of Ryu Asada’s take on the latest GT-R for Hot Wheels. I don’t know what will be my 2017 Hot Wheels Best New Model, but this will be a finalist. It might be going up against this blue car (among others):

The GT-R has two things going for it. One, it is a replica of a cool car, at least to me. Second, it is a near perfect replica of said cool car. I stated in my feature on the orange debut that I would say it is better than the TLV – many of you took issue with that – but I stick by it. I don’t take that lightly, considering my love and devotion to Tomica Limited Vintage, but that is how I feel. The Hot Wheels wins. And don’t get me started on the basic Tomica version.

Now, if the Malaysia factory would stop screwing up the tampo prints, it would be a no-brainer. Ryu did his part, now the factory needs to do theirs. The grey version seems to be better, but we will know when more Q cases hit.

Both the TLV and HW castings are spot on, but Ryu’s version is “allowed” to have a little more attitude since it’s a HW, hence sitting a tad lower than stock height whereas the TLV version is right at it.

That aside, being a US muscle car/hot rod/kustom fan, I’m really enjoying the JDM castings. Cars like this one, the upcoming RX-7, Custom 240Z, and the Repu are perfect examples of realistic and accurate castings done without silly, 1999-ish tampos all over them. All they need to do is a simple, periodic color change like this GT-R.

They sure have done quite a few Skylines & GT-Rs over the past few years. I’m not as familiar with some of the earlier version of the real car, so this 2017 model really appeals to me more. I thought I loved the orange, but now with the gray I’m having trouble deciding which I like best. They are both appropriate colors and look great. I haven’t found the orange release yet, but am keeping my fingers crossed it will turn up. We are always way behind on releases here.

I have yet to read all of the comments, but, I would like to buy one of those “hovering” front end rampers. I love the impossible look of this piece and it’s a must-have for me. I sincerely hope this is not a one-off.

Ok, sorry, I should mention that both cars are for me as well. I like both. No need to quibble between them, that’s for sure. Lookin’ pretty fancy and handsomely serious…both have charms. Come to papa…